MECHANISMS OF TASK FLEXIBIITY IN HONEY BEES

分工是复杂社会系统的基本组成部分， 在昆虫和哺乳动物等不同的群体中。在所有的社会群体中， 分工涉及到个体在某些方面的专业化 任务。然而，为了让分工在一个变量中发挥作用 环境，它必须考虑到任务性能的变化。在蜂蜜中 蜜蜂，意大利蜜蜂，任务专业化取决于：(1)年龄多意性， 不同年龄段的人执行不同的任务 在一个群体内，和(2)基于遗传的个人偏好 某些任务。该项目的长期目标是确定 蜜蜂个体和社会任务调节的机制。 更具体地说，它将研究 个体在觅食行为中的灵活性，并决定个体如何 任务绩效的变化被整合到群体水平的调节中 觅食的能力。 该项目将使用各种行为和基因技术， 包括使用仪器人工授精来构建蜜蜂 包含多种工人基因类型和等位酶的菌落 电泳法和DNA分析(随机扩增多态性DNA标记)鉴定遗传 殖民地内的亚科。三个主要问题将是 解决：(1)个人的相对贡献是什么 群体水平觅食可塑性的灵活性和基因多样性？ (2)遗传和发育约束对个体行为的影响 灵活性如何限制群体水平的觅食行为？以及(3)如何 用驯化蜂蜜开发的觅食灵活性模型做得很好 蜂群预测社会群体在以下条件下的行为 自然选择？这项研究将提供至关重要的信息 理解复杂社会分工的演变 群居昆虫行为灵活性的系统和机制 殖民地。

Division of labor is a fundamental component of complex social systems, in groups as diverse as insects and mammals. In all social groups, division of labor involves specialization by individuals on certain tasks. However, for division of labor to function in a variable environment, it must allow for changes in task performance. In honey bees, Apis mellifera, task specialization depends on: (1) age polyethism, with individuals of different age groups performing different tasks within a colony, and (2) genetically-based individual preference for certain tasks. The long-term objective of this project is to determine the mechanisms for individual and societal task regulation in honey bees. More specifically, it will examine mechanisms for and constraints on individual flexibility in foraging behavior, and determine how individual variation in task performance is integrated into colony-level regulation of foraging. The project will use a variety of behavioral and genetic techniques, including use of instrumental insemination to construct honey bee colonies containing a variety of worker genotypes, and allozyme electrophoresis and DNA analyses (RAPD markers) to identify genetic subfamilies within colonies. Three principle questions will be addressed: (1) What are the relative contributions of individual flexibility and genotypic diversity to colony-level foraging plasticity?, (2) How do genetic and developmental constraints on individual behavioral flexibility constrain foraging behavior at the colony level?, and (3) How well do models of foraging flexibility developed using domesticated honey bee colonies predict the behavior of social groups under conditions of natural selection? This study will provide information crucial to understanding the evolution of division of labor in complex social systems, and mechanisms of behavioral flexibility in social insect colonies.